


Bandaids

by orbythesea



Category: House M.D.
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-03-01
Updated: 2007-03-01
Packaged: 2017-10-18 21:54:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 239
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/193706
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orbythesea/pseuds/orbythesea
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There's no bandaid to fix betrayal.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bandaids

  
She keeps thinking of bee stings and skinned knees and the way her mother always smelled like Chanel Number Five as she soothed away all the minor hurts of childhood.

(He told her once that Chanel smells like old money and desperate need for social validation.)

She has always thought there are two ways to hurt. One is fast and harsh, but quick to heal. The other is slow and agonizing before the final admission of defeat.

(Her mother always had to rip the bandaids off for her.)

She can’t walk away, and he can’t walk at all so they silently agree to suffer slowly. She doesn’t admit that it’s guilt that’s forcing her stasis, so she masks the lie in half-truths and tells herself it’s love.

(He won’t admit he still needs her.)

She’s angry, maybe as angry as he is, but she doesn’t talk about it. It comes out in passive aggressive flashes sometimes, but never when he’s in the room. His anger is far more justified than hers, so with him, she stays silent.

(He pushes too hard, and vituperative words give way to raw vitriol.)

It’s six months before it’s finally too much for her to take: the hatred, the silence, the screaming, the _pain_. He plays Ravel while she packs the last five years into boxes, and she whispers that she’s sorry as she walks out the door.

(There’s no bandaid to fix betrayal.)


End file.
